Transfer of noncovalent chiral information along an optically inactive helical peptide chain: allosteric control of asymmetry of the C-terminal site by external molecule that binds to the N-terminal site.

This study aims at demonstrating end-to-end transfer of noncovalent chiral information along a peptide chain. The domino-type induction of helical sense is proven by using achiral peptides 1-m of bis-chromophoric sequence with different chain lengths: H-(Aib-Delta(Z)Phe)(m)-(Aib-Delta(Z)Bip)(2)-Aib-OCH(3) [m = 2, 4, and 6; Aib = alpha-aminoisobutyric acid; Delta(Z)Phe = (Z)-alpha,beta-didehydrophenylalanine; Delta(Z)Bip = (Z)-beta-(4,4'-biphenyl)-alpha,beta-didehydroalanine]. They all showed the tendency to adopt a 3(10)-helix. Whereas peptide 1-m originally shows no circular dichroism (CD) signals, marked CD signals were induced at around 270-320 nm based on both the beta-aryl didehydroresidues by chiral Boc-proline (Boc = tert-butoxycarbonyl). The observed CD spectra were interpreted on the basis of the exciton chirality method and theoretical CD simulation of several helical conformations that were energy-minimized. The experimental and theoretical CD analysis reveals that Boc-l-proline induces the preference for a right-handed helicity in the whole chain of 1-m. Such noncovalent chiral induction was not observed in the corresponding N-terminally protected 1-m. Obviously, helicity induction in 1-m originates from the binding of Boc-proline to the N-terminal site. In the 17-mer (1-6), the information of helix sense reaches the 16th residue from the N-terminus. We have monitored precise transfer of noncovalent chiral stimulus along a helical peptide chain. The present study also proposes a primitive allosteric model of a single protein-mimicking backbone. Here chiral molecule binding the N-terminal site of 1-6 controls the chiroptical signals and helical sense of the C-terminal site about 30 A away.